Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the sale could be a harbinger of things to come.

“We’re optimistic with this lease sale we’ll see some action,” Jewell told reporters on an unrelated conference call on Monday. “If there is good interest in this one, then I think you will have this happening on a consistent basis.”

Jewell’s optimism is borne in part from her experience in the private sector. Jewell was CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc., while the chain of retail stores made deals to buy renewable energy to offset its carbon emissions. “We actively pursued the purchase of wind energy and solar energy as well,” Jewell said. “There is demand out there for companies that are looking to reduce their carbon footprint.”

But Jewell stopped short of predicting her potentially four-year tenure at Interior will see commercial offshore wind developments, which face financial as well as structural hurdles. The projects are massive, expensive and tough to finance.

“It will really be up to industry to decide the time frame under which they choose to develop wind energy resources,” Jewell said. “What we’re really doing at the Department of Interior is giving people an opportunity to use these resources. We certainly don’t want to be a roadblock to them being in production in four years, if it makes sense to the community.”

“The market will dictate,” she added. “We certainly won’t get in the way.”

But Republicans say that approach stands in sharp contrast to the Obama administration’s handling of traditional energy development in other coastal areas.

A five-year plan for selling offshore oil and gas leases around the U.S. does not include any auctions along the East Coast, including an area off Virginia where an auction was previously planned. That Virginia lease sale was canceled after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, with Interior officials citing Defense Department concerns about interfering with operations in the area as a major factor.

Vitter accused the administration of “picking energy industry winners and losers” by blessing the offshore wind sale while forestalling oil and gas development in the same Atlantic waters.

“While they do everything they can to advantage renewable energy production, they ignore the benefits that traditional energy provides,” Vitter said in a news release. “The federal government receives significant revenue from royalties for offshore oil and gas production in the form of rents, royalties, bonus bids and taxes. Can the same be said for any potential offshore wind project?”

The Interior and Energy departments devised a coordinated plan to accelerate the development of offshore wind resources in February 2011.

During the July auction, wind developers will have the chance to bid on 164,750 acres about 9 miles south of the Rhode Island coastline — the same area identified for potential wind leasing in a federal notice last December. A Department of Energy report suggests that the area has the potential for some 3,400 megawatts of installed capacity, enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which also conducts oil and gas lease sales, is taking a similar approach to the wind auction. The bureau said Tuesday it will evaluate both non-monetary agreements and cash bids. Non-monetary factors could include bidders who hold joint development or power purchase agreements.

Paving the way for the sale and the issuance of commercial wind leases in the area near Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the ocean enerby bureau concluded that the activity would have no significant impact on the environment. Bureau director Tommy Beaudreau said the conclusion followed “extensive collaboration” with “key stakeholders, including industry, commercial fishers and environmental organizations.”

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., praised the development as “a win for American jobs, for American energy security, and for our environment.”

Markey noted that the first offshore wind leases would be in “low-conflict areas” identified by the Interior Department and local stakeholders.

Jennifer A. Dlouhy covers energy policy, politics and other issues for The Houston Chronicle and other Hearst Newspapers from Washington, D.C. Previously, she reported on legal affairs for Congressional Quarterly. She also has worked at The Beaumont Enterprise, The San Antonio Express-News and other newspapers. Jennifer enjoys cooking, gardening and hiking. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and toddler son.

About Fuel Fix

FuelFix.com is your daily must-read source for news and analysis on the energy business. Anchored by business reporters at the Houston Chronicle and other Hearst newspapers, FuelFix incorporates blogs by energy experts, market updates, useful data and a real-time summary of the top ideas, hottest stories and latest news.